Winning You Over
by MiMaron3
Summary: When Sakura and Tomoyo get some suspicious letters with no sender at school one day, there lives are completely changed. And Syaoran and Eriol are going to do anything to get them back to normal.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: **I do not own, or even pretend to own, the characters of Cardcaptor Sakura. So please do not sue me. That would be very bad. Much obliged. :D

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Winning You Over

Syaoran couldn't help but look every time he heard the door that lead into the bright classroom open and close. He didn't know when the habit had started, but he knew why. Ever since he had first met her back in the fourth grade, he had always watched for her. He sighed as he looked back at the paperwork sitting on his desk in front of him. He wasn't particularly in the mood to fill it out, but it had to be done eventually. He had just finished writing his name and birthday on the paper when he heard the door open. Hoping for the best, he quickly raised his head to see who arrived. He watched as a petite, bright looking girl with short brown hair entered the room, books in her arms. This was the girl he had been waiting for. He chuckled softly as she struggled to her desk, her books probably weighing more than she did. He jumped up from his desk at in the back of the room. "Want some help with those?" He smiled as he grabbed a few books from the top of the girl's massive pile.

**xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox**

Sakura looked up, emerald eyes wide at the sound of her childhood friend. He had this way of sneaking up on her, even when she knew he was coming. She quickly shook her head, trying to regain her composure. After 8 years of being best friends, you'd think that she would learn to sense him or something!

"So you don't want my help? Are you sure? You look like you're about to fall over," Syaoran studied her for a moment before shrugging. He started putting the books back onto the top of the pile. "Oh, well. More entertaining for me!"

"Dang it, Syaoran!" Sakura stumbled after the sudden addition of weight. "You grab those and help me carry them up to the front!" She glared at him playfully as she tried to regain her balance.

"Is that really anyway to ask for a favor?" He said as he crossed his arms and leaned on the desk behind him. Sakura blew at the hair that had fallen into her eyes and watched, frustrated, as it drifted up two inches and then floated slowly back down to the exact position it had been in moments before. She had carried this far on her own, right? How much damage could she do just carrying the books through the aisle of desks to the front? Sakura frowned at her own thoughts of the destruction that would ensue. She knew that the only reason she had made it down the long hallway from the staff room to the classroom was because there were no obstacles. She would destroy the entire classroom if left alone! With a final glance between her best friend and the front desk, Sakura sighed and hefted the books into a bit of a better grip.

"No. I'm sorry. Oh, your Almighty Highness, will you please help this poor servant with her unsightly chores, as it seems she is too helpless to complete them on her own." Sakura monotonously drew out. She could honestly say that this boy was probably the most immodest boy on the planet. Why she had fallen for him, she had no idea.

"That was a bit better, still a bit lacking in the actual EMOTION bit, but we'll work on it." His own eyes showing more emotion than his face, he re-grabbed the books, this time taking a few more, and turned to go to the front of the classroom. "You coming?" He tossed over his shoulder with a quick smile.

"Oh, hush! I'm right behind you!" It was a good thing that he wasn't paying any attention to her, Sakura thought to herself. She wouldn't want him to notice this blush.

To make a long story short, Sakura Kinomoto and Syaoran Li had been best friends for 8 years. For 5 of those 8, Sakura had secretly been in love with Syaoran. And for 3 of those 5, Sakura had actually started hiding her feelings. She wouldn't want anything to mess with a friendship of this caliber, after all. Besides, with his personality, she wasn't sure if he would make a very good boyfriend in the first place.

Sakura let out a loud huff as she placed the books on the front desk. She watched as Syaoran took the first couple of books and put the names of the owners up on the board, knowing that that was what the teacher had asked Sakura to do. Who was she kidding? She knew better than anyone what a great guy Syaoran actually was. She knew better than anyone what a perfect boyfriend he would be. Why couldn't he just get some super-gorgeous girlfriend and put her out of her misery! It wasn't like he was ever going to have the feelings that she wanted him to have.

"Hey! Li-kun! We missed you the other day at the soccer game!" Sakura's thoughts were broken as a familiar voice entered from the doorway to the classroom. Syaoran's guy best friends, Yamazaki and Eriol joined the two, both looking like they had had to run from their club to the classroom. Sakura looked past them to see if she could find the familiar head of black hair.

"Eriol-kun, is Tomoyo here yet?" Asking was probably going to get the girl found sooner than just blindly looking around for her. For all Sakura knew, Tomoyo could be running late today. If she was, Eriol would be the one that would know.

"Of course I'm here!" Tomoyo grabbed Sakura's arm and spun her around to face her, giving her a huge hug when she finally had her facing the correct direction. "Oh Sakura-chan! It's been WAY too long since the last time I saw you!"

"Tomoyo! You just saw me 2 days ago! I don't know what you're talking about!" Sakura's look of shock melted into a smile as she returned the beautiful girl's hug. A lot of things had happened over the course of their adolescent lives, but Tomoyo was one of the most consistent people Sakura knew. She was always beautiful, she was always top of the class, and she was always the person that Sakura trusted the most. Nothing would ever change that.

"Sakura, I don't think you realize just how long 2 days feels like in teenage days! I was so BORED without you!" Tomoyo pulled away from the embrace and looked Sakura straight in the eyes, obviously trying to make a point. Tomoyo and Sakura had long figured out how to communicate with each other without actually saying anything. When you have male best friends, there are points when you know that a certain piece of information is just beyond their tolerance level. That was when that sort of thing was useful. As Sakura locked glances with her best friend, she knew that she was trying to tell her to meet her in the hallway. Immediately.

Tomoyo was the first to break eye contact. She looked over at her bespectacled boyfriend and gave him a sweet smile. "You know what sweetie; I think I left some stuff in the clubroom. I'll go get it and be right back." She gave him a quick peck on the cheek right as she was leaving, offering no room for conversation. There was a silence that lasted for about three seconds as everyone watched as Tomoyo left the room, not even glancing back once.

"That's some girl you got there, Eriol." Syaoran's voice was the one that finally broke the moment. "You can tell who wears the pants in that relationship." He smiled brightly at his best friend and continued writing names on the board.

"Okay, first off…I'm obviously the one wearing pants. She was wearing a skirt. And secondly, I'm completely aware of the fact that Tomoyo is the dominant member of our relationship." Eriol sat back onto the desk behind him, putting his elbows on his knees and his chin in his hands. "I really don't think that I would be happier if I was the dominant member."

Syaoran dropped the marker that he was writing with. Yamazaki's jaw dropped as he looked at his best friend in disbelief. Sakura slowly started to slink her way out to the doorway. She knew that Eriol was only doing this to help. The peck on the cheek had been Tomoyo's sign that she needed a moment alone with Sakura. So Eriol was going to do whatever he could to distract the boys. Not because it mattered if they knew that they left together, but only because they didn't want the drama of them asking questions later. If things went like this, Sakura would just be able to say that she had to go pee or something.

Sakura was closing the door as she heard the boys regain composure. The last thing she heard was the strong, clear voice of Syaoran. A voice she knew that would be forever ingrained into her memory. "Look man, I didn't mean for the conversation to get all serious! I was honestly just…" Sakura turned down the hallway and started walking towards the music room, the meeting place that Tomoyo and Sakura had used since elementary school. It wasn't the SAME music room, but it was always at THE music room.

The brunette sighed as she looked at the poster-filled door that led to the music room. She had a feeling that she knew what this was about. They had had the same fight last week and the week before that. At least she was sure that this was most likely the LAST time that they would be having this fight. Sakura straightened her shoulders and raised her chin before confidently opening the door.

One look at Tomoyo and Sakura could feel herself physically deflate. What had happened? She had prepared for this merely seconds ago! "Tomoyo…" she started

"Come look at this." Tomoyo interrupted. That, Sakura hadn't expected. Tomoyo wasn't wearing the determined face that she had gotten so accustomed to seeing recently. She was staring at what looked like a flyer while leaning on the piano, her face the portrait for curiosity.

"Alright." Sakura cautiously walked over the piano as well to get a look at the paper. Tomoyo gave her a quick glance before turning her attention back to the paper. She slanted the paper slightly so that Sakura could view it at the same time. With the black paper and a few thin lines of fancy gold script, the paper suspiciously looked like an invitation to some high-end banquet. "Where did you get this?" Sakura asked her best friend curiously.

"I found it in my locker this morning. It didn't have a sender name or anything. It just had my name on it. Listen to what it says," Tomoyo began reading the letter aloud.

_Dear Reader,_

_You are cordially invited to this years Winter Ball. As a matter of tradition, we_

_would like to take the pleasure in seeing all of you in your most formal attire._

_Please join us at 8 o'clock at the Vandoor Ballroom on Saturday of this week.._

_Yours truly,_

_The Galladian Society_

Tomoyo's unused hand slowly started curling into a fist. "This is weird." She said bluntly. There wasn't really anything else she could say. There wasn't really anything else needed. Sakura reached to grab the paper from her friend. Once she had it within her grasp, she flipped it over to see if anything was written on the back. Nothing. She frowned and looked at the letter again. She shrugged and passed the letter back to her friend.

"Maybe it's just an invitation that your mom told someone to give you. Have you asked her about it? 'Cuz that happens sometimes." Sakura could admit that it was a little strange to be getting an invitation that formal in your locker at school, but there were plenty of reasonable explanations for that letter. Like, just for example, it could be a prank. Sakura wouldn't put it past Yamazaki. Or maybe it was some club within the school. She actually figured that that was what it was. Considering the name of the group that sent it, they were probably some kind of young ladies club that noticed how perfect Tomoyo was.

"It's not. I already checked with her. And since it wasn't from her, I went ahead and asked her to look up this 'Galladian Rose Society'…We got nothing. It's like they don't exist." Tomoyo looked nonplussed as she focused on the clock that sat on top of the door. Sakura knew she wasn't really reading it, but she also knew that it was probably in her best interest to just let her zone out for a minute. She would be less violent if she came out of it herself. "Anyway, it's probably just some young ladies club." Tomoyo sighed as she came back from her thoughts.

"That's my thinking. I don't think you should let it bother you too much. We wouldn't want you to get worry wrinkles or anything." Sakura smiled as she poked her friends face, mockingly pointing out the supposed 'wrinkles'. "Now let's get back to class. We don't want to be late." She said, struggling to hold in her laughter as Tomoyo slapped her hand away from her face.

"What wrinkles?" Tomoyo shoved the paper into the pocket of her blazer and hurried to catch up to the fading silhouette of Sakura in the hallway.

**xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox**

For the rest of the day, nothing of interest really occurred. English, PE, and art were fun. Math and science were horrid. Normal stuff for Sakura. Actually, to be completely honest, Sakura spent most of the class staring at Syaoran. She had reached that level of love where you ready to do anything to watch all the other people's expressions. In her particular case, it wasn't that bad. Just embarrassing if he found out and wasn't going to happen. She pretended to look out the window while in actuality she was gazing at his reflection in the glass. She laughed at the fact that she thought sneaking glances at her best friend was more interesting than the lesson. He'd only actually turned around to talk to her once and it had been about something that had to do with their movie night that they always had on Saturdays. As far as Sakura was concerned, Syaoran was absolutely unaware of the fact that Sakura had stared at him almost all day.

Finally, the bell chimed, marking the end of the day. Sakura took that as her cue to look back at the man. She grabbed her bag and put it in her lap, quickly putting up everything that they had used that day. "Hey Syaoran…" Sakura broke off as she looked up. How had he managed to get surrounded so quickly? Sakura released the breath that she hadn't known she was holding. Over the past 2 years, Syaoran had become more than just the best friend that Sakura was in love with. He had become that one guy that everyone who knew him loved. He constantly had all sorts of different girls around him and he had male friends from every social set. She couldn't even really blame them. Thanks to all the soccer that Syaoran played, he had grown into a very nicely toned body. That combined with his natural good looks and broad shoulders made him the type of guy that girls couldn't help but drool over and guys couldn't help but respect. Sakura took stock of the girls that had crowded around his desk today. There were less than usual. She knew most of them by name, but sometimes there were new girls that joined. It looked like the regulars today. Sakura saw the bouncy curly hair of Nanami, the beautiful blue eyes of the half-foreign Akina-chan, and the constant smile of the Yuniko. She took a deep breath and began again. They all knew that she was in the friend zone with Syaoran. She wasn't a threat to them, so they let her be. The fact that Syaoran would dump them for Sakura in a heartbeat might have had something to do with it too though. "Syaoran!" Sakura slammed her hand on his desk.

Syaoran jolted at the sound, but quickly recovered and turned to look at her with an affectionate smile. "What's up, girlie?"

"About movie night…" Sakura pulled her hand back from his desk and quickly began shuffling ineffectively in her bag. The 'Syaoran love' girls were watching her, so a blush might not be the best idea. She glanced up quickly, not really getting a good look at anything before she turned her attention back to the bag. "Which movies do you want to see?"

"I told you during lunch, didn't I? I'm not going to be able to come this week." Syaoran looked at her for a second, almost as if he was gauging her reaction.

"Oh, right! I remember you saying that now," No, she didn't really, but she didn't want to tell him that she had been too busy drowning in his presence. That could end with disastrous results. "Would you mind telling me why again? I didn't really catch it last time." She smiled sweetly at her best friend, hoping to distract him from her words.

"You didn't catch it? Oh god, Sakura. You really are dense, aren't you? You weren't listening at all when I told you, were you?" Syaoran's eyes flared for a second before he regained his usual calm composure.

Sakura flinched at the expression she was sure that she saw. That couldn't be a great sign. Backtrack, Sakura, BACKTRACK! "Sorry! I was focused on something else!" She smiled sheepishly. She wouldn't know what to say if he asked her what though. 10 bucks said that was his next question.

"Which was?" Sakura officially owed herself 10 dollars. She smiled to herself and got to work thinking of a good excuse. Sakura's brain was working with such speed; you could almost smell the smoke that was radiating from her head.

"Um… Tomoyo! Tomoyo got a really strange letter this morning! I was thinking about that." She smiled confidently for a brief moment before she realized that she needed to at least attempt to be sneaky. She was attempting to lie to her best friend. You'd think that after 3 years of this, she would be better at it. It was a miracle that Syaoran had never found out about her feelings. She was just too honest!

"Okay. I'm going to pretend that I believe that, just because I don't want your head to explode." He smiled jokingly and Sakura knew that she was off the hook. Once he started making fun of her intelligence, she knew all was well.

"So, seriously, what are you up too that detains you from joining us on our sacred day of the week?" She grinned as she put her chin on her crossed arms and laid them on his desk.

"I'm going to visit some relatives this weekend. I won't even be able to call you or anything. I'm really sorry." He grabbed a piece of her short brown bangs and started twirling it in his fingers. Sakura breath caught at the affectionate gesture. The long fingers that touched her hair were beautiful and fluid, never once hesitating in their actions. She glanced up at the man that those fingers belonged too and blushed as she realized that she made eye contact. She jumped away from those amber eyes that seemed like they could just see right through her.

"It's fine! That's cool!" She tried to smile convincingly as she practically leaped from her seat with her bag. "It's going to be a little weird to not to talk to you for an entire weekend, but I'll see you on Monday, right?" The only time that they didn't talk almost every day was when he went to visit his family and honestly, she couldn't say that it didn't bother her. But she understood, so she didn't ever fight it. "Oh crap! I forgot about dinner tonight!" She spun around quickly. Sakura had been living alone for about a year now and she still wasn't used to the fact that she actually had to make sure there was food in the house everyday. "Bye Syaoran! I'll talk to you later!" She called over her shoulder with a quick wave.

**xoxoxoxoxoxoxox**

About an hour and thirty minutes later, Sakura had finally reached her house – grocery bags in hand. "I'm home!" She called, knowing that no one would reply. It wasn't like she was lonely though. She had chosen to be alone. When her father got the offer from the college to go to America become part of a major archeology crew, she knew that she would end up alone. She wasn't going to let her father pass up the opportunity, but she wasn't about to go with him either. It had taken a good couple months of fighting and a bit of convincing, but she had finally gotten her father to agree to leave her here. He visited on the holidays and called every Wednesday, so it didn't really even feel like he had left. Except for at dinner. Dinner was always almost unbearably lonely. Sakura figured that she would get used to it eventually, but even after a year, she still didn't like dinner time.

After she finished eating and cleaning up, she got her school bag and went up to her room to do her homework. She figured that she could at least attempt to do some of it. Her room hadn't changed much, even if it was in a different house. Really, the only thing that was different from her old room was that the pictures on the walls were all current. Well, except for one. She smiled and looked at

the picture sitting on her desk. It was a picture from back when she and Syaoran were in 6th or 7th grade. The crew had all gone to the beach, so it was a group picture. The reason she kept it was because it was from the day she realized that she had fallen in love with Syaoran. She had been stupid as usual and had sprained her ankle after tripping on something and hadn't been able to participate in the merriment. Syaoran spent the entire day with her, telling her stupid jokes and things that would make her laugh. At the end of the day, she wasn't feeling so bad about missing the entire fun day.

Sakura grabbed her homework from her bag and set it on the desk. As she pulled out all the appropriate books, she noticed something square and black fall out from between the pages of her book. It landed on the floor and Sakura looked at the familiar fancy gold script.

_To Sakura Kinomoto_

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**Author's Note****: Alright! I know! I told you I would try to be quick and in reality I was the farthest thing from it! Then I didn't even update! I just decided to start a new one! OH THE INHUMANITY! It'll be fine. I promise. I'm almost done with the next chapter for ****CoS****. I'll probably have it up by the end of the weekend. XD**

**Okay, so I know this one is a little long… My bad! ****But I just couldn't find a good place to stop it! So I just kept going. And going. And going. But I think this one has a bit of potential, so I hope you enjoy it! Please rate and review!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: **I do not own, or even pretend to own, the characters of Cardcaptor Sakura. So please do not sue me. That would be very bad. Much obliged. :D

**Coolness Point Details:** So, Coolness points are basically my way of saying 'YOU'RE AWESOME' to people who I think deserve it. In bluntest terms, it's the acknowledgements. :D

This Round's Winners:

Moonlight919

Suikahime

Thanks for being awesome, you two! :D

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Winning You Over

Syaoran's visit to his family estate in Hong Kong hadn't been eventful. It was mostly just a mess of things he needed to complete and people he needed to meet. The family had allowed him to stay in Japan for so long only on the condition that he come back frequently and take care of the whole heir business. It wasn't as if his mother and sisters did a bad job, it's just that he WAS the head. Sometimes, there were things that only he could do. Add that stress onto the fact that he can't even stop long enough to talk to Sakura on these weekends and you have the perfect definition of a very stressful weekend in the life of Syaoran Li.

The entire flight back, Syaoran could think of nothing else besides landing and calling the girl whom he'd been in love with since the 5th grade. When the plane finally did land, it was almost like it was a race against time to see how fast he could push the buttons that would link him to her voice. Syaoran impatiently held his breath as he listened to the sound of the phone ringing on her end. One ring. Two ring. "Hello?" Sakura's sweet voice answered questioningly, as if she didn't know it was him.

"Hey." He sighed into the phone as he took a brief second to glance around to see where he was. He noticed the luggage carousal and headed in that direction. "How are you?"

"Wonderful! Oh, you'll never believe what happened this weekend…" Sakura began to ramble on about something that happened when Tomoyo and she had gone to the department store. Syaoran couldn't really hear the distinction of the words, all he heard was the sweet, melodic hum of the general sound of Sakura's voice. Occasionally, he would make some sort of noise, or say something that would encourage another flow of words from Sakura. He had grabbed his luggage and was almost completely checked back into Japan when she finally ran out of things to tell him. "So…How are you feeling?"

"Much better now that I've landed." _Much better now that I've heard your voice._ Syaoran shifted his luggage to his other hand and hailed in a taxi. "Hold on just a second…" He said as he placed the phone on the hood of the taxi and quickly stuffed all his luggage into the trunk. He replaced the phone next to his ear. "Hey Sakura…After hearing all about your wonderful adventures this weekend, there is one story that I think you missed."

"Huh? What are you talking about?" Sakura's voice quizzically ventured with the slightest hint of caution.

"Well, I was hoping to hear the story about you completely understanding the homework and getting it done without the slightest hitch." Syaoran closed the taxi door after sliding in. He laid his head back on the seat and listened to the sound of Sakura stutter some pathetic excuse about waiting for him to get home like she always did. He couldn't honestly say that he had expected her to actually do it; it was just easier to ask her about that then say that he needed to see her.

"…and that's why you just need come over and explain it to me." Ah. Music to his ears.

"Give me about an hour and I'll be over as soon as I can." He sighed quietly and began to rub his eyes with his forefinger and thumb in a pinching-like method. That girl would never realize just how much he needed her around, would she?

"Okie doke. I'll set the timer." She laughed jokingly and Syaoran vaguely thought he heard the sound of the fridge opening and closing. He smiled to himself and had to clear a lump in his throat before he spoke.

"Cookies or cake?"

"Cookies this week! White chocolate macadamia, to be precise. They should be ready by the time that you get here." Her voice broke, which meant that it was time for him to let her go. She would always attempt to talk to him while she was making them, but she could never quite get the art down. She always ended up making some kind of mess/disaster.

"Well, I'll tell you what. I'll talk to you once I start heading your direction that way you can clean whatever mess you made BEFORE I get there. Keyword Sakura, BEFORE! I don't want to spend three hours cleaning up after you again this weekend. The homework is actually almost hard for me, meaning it'll be nearly impossible for you. We're going to need all the study time we can get."

"Yes, yes. I'll clean it up before you get here." Sakura said, her voice lacking its normal enthusiasm. Suddenly, Syaoran heard the deep sound of the dial tone buzzing in his ear. That little scatterbrain had hung up on him! He took a quick glance at the bright screen of his cell phone and let out a final chuckle. What a great week this was shaping up to be.

~xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox~

"But can you believe it? Ugh! He makes me so mad! He only comes to visit with Yukito to visit occasionally, but for some reason, he never, NEVER manages to clean up after himself! Just because he doesn't live with me anymore, doesn't mean that he can take advantage of my hospitality like that!" Syaoran had been with Sakura for approximately two hours… cleaning up her cookie mess. And apparently she had found something else to rant about. From what he had gathered from her rather inconsistent dialogue was that Touya and Yukito had come to visit her this weekend, but Touya hadn't been very guest-like, completely making himself at home and ruining her 'perfectly organized mess'. "I mean, of course Yukito remembered to clean up after himself, but it's different with Yukito. He's the better half of the couple."

"Sakura, you can't say that. You're partial to Yukito in the first place and Touya is your older brother. Your opinion doesn't count. I'm sure that there's someone in this world who thinks that Touya is the better half." Syaoran picked up a cookie off the plate and turned to face Sakura in her tiny kitchen.

She stopped washing dishes in the sink long enough to turn and look at him. She dried her hands as she spoke, "Well, do YOU think that Touya is the better half of the couple?" She tossed the rag behind her onto the counter, crossing her arms in the process.

"I don't count either." He nibbled into the cookie with a smile as he searched her face for any detail that he hadn't completely memorized. After a while of searching, he settled on her entire face in general.

"And I know that Tomoyo and Eriol definitely don't. Therefore, no one does. Because you four are the most open-minded people I know. If none of you like Touya best, then he just isn't capable of being liked more than Yukito." Sakura threw her hands into the air, palms facing up, and shook her head depressingly. "Hard to believe that the two of us come from the same womb."

"Once again, I'm sure that there is SOMEONE on the planet that would like Touya better." Syaoran finished the cookie and pushed himself off the counter he had been leaning on.

"Yeah, someone who likes rude, obnoxious people. Or maybe a masochist." Sakura mumbled under her breath the last one, loud enough for Syaoran to hear, but quiet enough to assume that Sakura clearly thought that the walls would tell her brother the next time he visited.

"Sakura… Um… Maybe you should think that over one more time…" Syaoran hinted, his face clearly showing that he had thought of something she hadn't.

"Oh! Crap! That doesn't count Yukito, of course!" Backtracking had never been a forte of Sakura's and the trait was showing through pretty strongly as she stammered her way into another corner.

"Relax, who am I going to tell?" Syaoran walked back towards and gently mussed her hair a bit. Syaoran quickly took his hand away and turned stiffly towards the small coffee table that Sakura had in the middle of the living room. "Shall we start the homework? Or do you just want to skip it for tonight?" Syaoran refused to look at her as he shuffled inefficiently through the papers that contained what looked like a pile of gibberish at the moment. Who had decided that letters and numbers and symbols all needed to be in the same line? And why did his 'best friend' have to affect him as drastically as she did? She had looked so darn cute with her hair all messed up and her face red from her embarrassment. He tried to think of other things, hoping he would get his ability for cognitive thoughts back soon.

"We can just skip it tonight, right?" Sakura sighed as she sat down in an armchair directly opposite of Syaoran's spot on the floor. "It's not like I'll pass anyway." Suddenly, Syaoran wasn't near as distracted as he had been a moment ago.

"All the more reason to do it, right?" He quickly glanced up at the girl and smiled devilishly. "Come on, get down here. It's time for battle positions!"

"But I HATE math…" Sakura glumly worked her way onto the floor next to the brunet boy and brought her pencil out of her schoolbag. "I really hate it, you know. It's not just something I make up everyday. I don't secretly love it or anything, you know." She sluggishly pulled her book out. "I've always hated it, ever since elementary school. I hated long before I even-"

"Shut up and get the homework out, Sakura." Syaoran looked over at her, a tight smile gracing his good-looking features. "I don't know why you think you have to give me this speech before we start everyday, but it's highly unnecessary. I fully believe that you really do hate math. It hates you just as much." His smile brightened a bit and he handed her a sheet of notebook paper. "You're going to need this." He held in a laugh as he watched Sakura's face physically flinch.

~xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox~

After another two hours of hard labor, a.k.a. tutoring Sakura in math, things were finally dying down in the Kinomoto household and Syaoran was getting his things together to leave. Not that it would matter if he left anything; he practically owned a room of the apartment. It was out of habit more than anything. "Do you want to take some of the cookies to your house?" Sakura's pleasantly content voice floated over the empty living room from the kitchen.

"No, I'm good. Thanks though." Syaoran couldn't help but notice how much darker the hallway looked as he was leaving it. The logical side of his brain told him that, naturally, it was because it was later than when he got there. But, the emotional, floozy side couldn't help but think that it was because he didn't want to leave. Which was true, of course, but he didn't need his brain coming up with some crazy literature devices to tell him that. He sighed quietly and finished pulling on his shoes. "Sakura! I'm going!"

"Oh! Hold on a second! I'm gonna get you that DVD of yours. I'll be right back." Syaoran watched as Sakura's figure slowly disappeared deeper into the house and into the room that he knew to be the one that she kept all the things she meant to return to him someday. One day, he would go in there and see if he actually still wanted most of it, but for the moment, having a room in her house filled with his things made him happier than anything else. He took a quick glance around the hallway one last time and noticed a new envelope on her bulletin board of things she didn't want to forget. On the envelope in fancy gold script there were the words…

_To Sakura__Kinomoto_

_

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**Author's Note****: So… I've decided that they just need to make a fanfic template. You know, like a button you could push that would just automatically set up the disclaimer and the author's note and make sure that all the separators were in place. Now, I'm just a newbie in this world, but that seems like something that would save everyone a lot of time. Maybe I'm just not very good at all this yet. I don't know, I'm rambling. **

**CHAPTER 2! I'M SO EXCITED~! I GOT 2 CHAPTER 2S UP IN 2 DAYS! Awesome.**

**This one is a little short, but the last chapter was a little long… So I figure that this about evens it out, right? Right. Good.**

**This story has basically taken a life of its own because I only meant for this one to be a two chapter story in the first place. But hopefully, you'll stick with me to wherever the heck this goes. :D Review please! It's an author's life source!**

**Best wishes and Happy Reading!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: **I do not own, or even pretend to own, the characters of Cardcaptor Sakura. So please do not sue me. That would be very bad. Much obliged. :D

**Coolness Point Details:** So, Coolness points are basically my way of saying 'YOU'RE AWESOME' to people who I think deserve it. Basically it's the acknowledgements. :D

This Round's Winners:

Moonlight919

Thank you so much for reviewing! You even came back! That really means a lot to me. :) I think you're basically the only one who reads this story, but I'll still try to be better about time management next time, 'kay? :)

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Winning You Over

The lights were all off when Syaoran entered his house, which was odd. "Wei?" Syaoran glanced into the kitchen to see if his long-time butler/housemate was home. When he didn't see anyone anywhere in the house, a flicker of worry made itself known. Syaoran picked up his cell phone and dialed the second phone number that had been etched into his heart. Wei picked up within the first ring.

"I'm so sorry, Li-sama. I'm almost home, I was running a few errands when I ran into a friend and lost track of time." The sound of Wei's voice immediately put Syaoran's mind at ease. He sighed as he wandered into the living room, plopping onto the couch, exhausted by his day.

"It's cool. Take your time. I'm not planning on moving for a while anyway." Syaoran leaned his head back against the couch and closed his eyes, relaxing in the quietness of his own home.

"I'll be home as soon as I can. I've got dinner in the fridge if you want to just warm it up yourself," continued Wei, almost as if he hadn't heard Syaoran in the first place. Syaoran chuckled quietly and raised his head, rubbing his eyes as he stood from his place on the couch. Honestly, eating alone didn't really appeal to Syaoran. Eating in general didn't really sound like a good idea. After all he'd eaten at Sakura's, he didn't really think that it would be ideal to eat anything in the next couple of months.  
He grunted as he pushed himself off the couch. Wei wouldn't eat unless he did. "Fine, I'll warm up dinner. Have you eaten yet?" Syaoran walked into the kitchen and removed two plates from the counter, knowing that Wei would have waited for him. Out of all the years that they had lived together, Wei had never once eaten without him. But for the sake of being polite, he would still ask.

"No, I have not. Would you mind warming me up a plate as well?" Wei's voice sounded strained, as if he was walking at a fairly brisk pace. Syaoran was already reaching into the refrigerator and grabbing the containers of food. From the looks of it, they were having curry tonight.

Syaoran turned around and leaned against the counter, crossing his free arm across his chest. He listened to the light sounds of his breathing, thinking about how much he was pushing himself to get here quicker. He sighed before asking, "Just how far away are you, Wei?"

"I'm not far at all." Syaoran knew a lie from Wei when he heard one. The vagueness of the sentence made it even more suspicious, he must be pretty far.

"I want an exact location." During the few moments of silence that followed, Syaoran had time to put the curry on a plate and place it in a microwave. He turned it on and returned his attention to the hesitating person on the other side of the line. "Wei, where are you, EXACTLY?"

Syaoran listened to the sound of shuffling through the speakers. He was going to put this off for as long as possible. After another moment of waiting, Wei finally spoke. "I'm near Miss Kinomoto's house. I'm about a kilometer from the house."

"Wei, just get a taxi." The microwave sounded and Syaoran turned to retrieve the food. Gathering everything up, he placed it on the table and worked his way into the living room, plopping himself onto the couch. "Sakura's house is at four kilometers away and it's already past nine o'clock

"No, no. That would take longer than just speed-walking the rest of the way home."

"Wei…" Syaoran sighed loudly as he pinched the bridge of his nose with his free hand in an attempt to curb his frustration at the man.

"10 minutes, Li-sama. I'll be home in 10 minutes." Syaoran, for the second time today, listened to the deep dial tone of his phone for a moment before realizing that, once again, he had been hung up on.

"What is it with everyone today?" He said aloud as he walked back into the living room. He sat on the leather couch with a loud thump and turned on the television. After channel surfing for a few minutes, Wei opened the door.

"Took my advice and got a cab, huh?" Syaoran threw teasingly over his shoulder. Wei smiled sheepishly and locked the door behind him.

"I figured you wouldn't eat until I got here, Li-sama. " Placing his coat on the hook, Wei walked to the back of the couch. He stood behind Syaoran and began absent-mindedly listening to the newscaster on the television. Syaoran watched as Wei's eyes clouded in thought. Turning his own attention to the screen, he heard the back end of the announcement.

_"...as of right now, there is no sign of the missing girls. The police across the nation are working very hard to find the mass of girls that have vanished from their hometowns. If you have a daughter between the ages of 13 and 19, please keep a close eye on them, for their own safety. If get any information..."_

Pictures of smiling girls slide onto the screen while a phone number at the bottom pleaded with the public for information. "Such pretty girls, aren't they?" Wei's voice broke through Syaoran's thoughts.

"Huh? Oh, yeah. I guess they are." Syaoran looked at the pictures more thoroughly. Wei wasn't just being nice; all the girls that had been taken were legitimately good looking. In all the pictures that were shown, the girls were all bright and smiling. "They all look like the cheerful type."

Wei nodded solemnly. "It really is heart-breaking. Over 15 girls, just gone. They're all about your age too. You watch out for Miss Sakura and Miss Tomoyo, alright?" Shaking his head, Wei turned to back out of the room. "I hope they find them soon." He pulled a chair from the table and looked at the brunet on the couch. "Syaoran, turn off the television for now. Let's eat."

Syaoran shut off the television and pushed himself up off the couch. "Right. Coming."

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Closing the door behind her, Sakura watched Syaoran leave until she couldn't see his back in the distance. She sighed as she entered the house. It always got so quiet at night. Looking around the living room, her emerald eyes settled in on the mess of papers and workbooks that the duo hadn't cleaned up from their study session. "Guess that's a good place to start…" Sakura's voice trailed off as she glanced around the room. Everything else was relatively clean, so it wasn't a matter of what to do first…It was more what to do at all. She still didn't know quite what to do with herself when everything got calm. Kneeling down next to the table she began shuffling the papers into a notebook that was lying on the top of the table.

_**THUD! CLICK!**_

Sakura jumped at the sound of the television turning on. Placing her hand on the low table, she lowered herself to look under it. Slightly underneath, the remote sat face down, proving her suspicions. She brought the remote back up and put it back on the table. In the background, she vaguely heard a voice.

"…_The strange thing about all these disappearances is that they occur in clusters_."

Sakura turned her attention the television, quickly pulling herself onto the couch. On the screen, the newscaster was showing a map of the region. There were clusters of red dots surrounding two cities on the map.

"_They are all from the same city, different schools, and they all occur on the same day. The exact time of disappearance is still unknown and there is nothing that would connect all these girls together. The police are baffled as to what could be happening to all these poor young women."_

A shiver went down Sakura's spine as she quickly turned off the television. "That's probably not something I need to be watching before bed." She turned toward the group picture that she had placed on the end table. "You'd probably tell me that I'm just being silly, but you know how I get worried all by myself here. I don't really think that I need any help freaking myself out." She smiled brightly at the boy standing next to her in the photo. "Anyway, I'm off to bed," Sakura stood and stretched her arms off in front of her. Picking up her backpack, she walked into the hallway. She turned off the light and quickly shuffled into her bedroom.

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The next morning, school came too early for both of them. Syaoran still made it to school on time, but Sakura was rounding the corner into the classroom right as the tardy bell was finishing. The giggling of her friends didn't help her mask her disheveled appearance.

"Sakura-chan! Hurry and sit down!"

"You just barely made it!"

"Lucky break there!"

"Oi, you're hair's a mess." Syaoran pulled a lock of her hair as she plopped down into her seat. Glaring at him from beneath her bangs, she laid out all the things she would need for the period onto her desk. How did he manage to look so good every morning? Did he just wake up with his hair like that? Sakura tried to imagine him with bed head. Laughing as she put her bag on the floor, her mood was immediately brightened. Sakura gave a bright smile to her best friend.

"Good morning to you too!" Patting her head gently, she did notice quite a few misplaced chunks. She shrugged to herself and threw it into a quick ponytail. "There, better?"

"The little hairs in the back aren't going to go into a ponytail. You know that," Syaoran didn't even bother to look at it while replying. Sakura pouted slightly as she flicked him on the back of the head. He could have at least pretended to be useful. He was the one who told her that her hair looked bad in the first place! He could have at least followed through on that one.

"I know that! I just asked if it looks better up than it does down! Geez, you're no help…" Sakura turned to Tomoyo and asked the same question, face red with embarrassment at the raven-haired girls knowing expression.

"It looks just fine like that. Don't worry about it too much." Tomoyo flipped the tiny ponytail and laughed. "You know, if you hadn't cut all of it off last month, you'd still be able to get it up." Tomoyo's chin was resting in the palm of her hand, her long dark hair providing a beautiful back-drop as she fine-tuned a nice steady gaze in Sakura's direction. Sakura laughed sheepishly as she looked up to the front of the classroom. She knew that Tomoyo would never forgive her for that. It probably would have been easier if she had just told her she was going to cut her hair. The teacher was standing in the front of the room, holding up what looked like a sign-up sheet for something. Sakura heard her friend sigh softly and felt the release of her gaze. "Not that I don't like it better short, because I do. You know I've always preferred your hair that length." Sakura smiled softly as she crossed her arms over her desk. "It's just that you didn't give me any warning! I mean, you should have at least consulted me first."

Sakura glanced over at the pouting girl and gave her an apologetic smile. "But I did it on a whim! I just got sick of having so much hair." Placing her chin on her arms, she smiled sadly. "Besides, I'm going to have to get used to you not always being around, aren't I?"

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When lunch finally came, everything was back to a more peaceful atmosphere level. Sakura, Syaoran, Tomoyo, Eriol, Chiharu, and Yamazaki had all eaten together, just like usual. The boys had been stolen, per usual, to play soccer almost as soon as they had finished eating. Chiharu had gone to watch, as usual. As usual, Tomoyo and Sakura sat alone in the classroom talking about things that didn't really matter.

"…I'd really like it if you at least tried this one on!" Tomoyo's voice rang out in the empty classroom, making the wish sound even more forceful than she had intended it.

"And I've already told you, I have no idea where on earth I would wear something that glamorous. I don't attend near as many fancy shindig's as you do, remember?" Laughing, Sakura pointed at the design that Tomoyo had lain on the desk. It was beautiful, yes, but not something that Sakura could ever actually wear.

"That's why I keep telling you! Ugh… You. Can. Wear. It. To. The. Dance." Tomoyo tilted her head slightly and gave Sakura a pleasant smile. "I mean, it's alright if you just don't like the design, but I think you would look very cute in it." Sakura groaned and put her head on the desk. Tomoyo placed a finger to her lips and gave Sakura a slightly perplexed look before muttering, "Do you maybe want something more elegant this time? I would understand that. Syaoran has seen you be cute plenty of times…"

Sakura shot to attention the second Tomoyo had said elegant. She knew there was something she had meant to talk to Tomoyo about! That was it! Reaching for her bag, Sakura began violently shuffling through all the papers, searching for that one small slip of paper. "Ah!" Pulling it out, she placed it over the dress design on the center of the desk. "Look Tomoyo!" Sakura watched as Tomoyo's violet eyes flicked across the page, waiting for the moment when everything stuck.

"Is that…?" Tomoyo's voice wavered as she looked down on the black piece of paper. "How did you get that? I thought I left mine at home." She ran her finger across the golden words on the bottom of the envelope. Sakura looked down at the envelope and smiled.

"Sorry, my bad." Flipping it over, Sakura watched as Tomoyo's mouth fell open. Tomoyo read aloud…

_To Sakura__Kinomoto_

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**Author's Note****: Oi! This one was a pain in my keister to get up. It got deleted like 4 times! I think every time I rewrote it, it got worse too. XP Oh well, I'm a one-hit wonder type anyways. :) For those of you who read this story, thank you very much for reading. I think that makes a total of like three people, but I still hope you enjoyed this latest addition. Feel free to review; you'll get Coolness Points if you do. ****Hehe… I made a rhyme. Guess I have too much time. Oh well, all will be…fime? I kid, I kid. **

**Question of the week! Does anyone else notice that their chapters get shorter and shorter the more they get into the story? Or is that just me? **

**Prove to me that more than just Moonlight reads this story! Review! ****Thankies!**

**Best wishes and Happy Reading! **


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